


Temper the Fire

by Alethia



Series: Starting to Finish [2]
Category: CSI: Miami
Genre: Episode Tag, F/M, Ice Cream, Movie Night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-12-22
Updated: 2003-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-11 13:52:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1173843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alethia/pseuds/Alethia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ice cream and movies. Girly, yes. For Calleigh, he was okay with that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Temper the Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Post-ep for 1.24 “Body Count.” My thanks to carolinecrane for the beta. Originally posted on LJ [here](http://alethialia.livejournal.com/31086.html).

Eric waited nervously as he stood at Calleigh’s door, his knock reverberating hollowly in the desolate hallway. He really didn’t know what he was doing at her apartment. She could have plans, she could be _with_ someone. If that were the case he just—he didn’t want to know.

But something had brought him here at seven in the evening, an attempt to lighten the load they all carried. Maybe it was the stress of the case, maybe it was the effect of Janet’s death on Calleigh, even if she hadn’t shown it, but it seemed like this was right, this was where he should be. With a friend.

He was here and he was hoping she would just accept it, wouldn’t ask him what he thought he was doing.

Half the time even he didn’t know.

The forbidding silence on the other side of the door told a story of its own and Eric was just about to leave, figuring she must have had a date or something, when the door opened and there she was, hair loose and most of her makeup gone, creating quite the different effect from her normal all-business look at work.

It was quite—approachable.

She was dressed casually, a strappy white tank top and some beige drawstring pants, and Eric was glad he’d changed from the black, black, and black he’d worn to work into khakis and a half-buttoned white shirt.

They even kind of matched.

“Eric,” she said, obviously surprised. “What are you doing here?”

And of course she would ask the one question he’d hoped they could skip over. He should have known. She was a CSI after all and they were trained to notice details like that.

He smiled, friendly, and held up the bags in his hands. “I come bearing gifts.”

She looked downright bewildered for a moment, and maybe he had caught her at a bad time.

“Um, am I interrupting something?” he asked, already outlining the quickest and most painless way to extricate himself from this situation.

“No, no. I’m—I’m surprised. I didn’t expect you.”

“Yeah, well, I figured with the few days we’ve had you might want some company,” he said offhand, smiling again.

And, oh, wrong thing to say, he realized as a shadow passed over her eyes and she smiled that tight smile that he _knew_ , the one she used right before she told someone politely to go the fuck away.

He broke in quickly. “I mean, _I_ wanted some company. I figured you wouldn’t mind.” His annoying struggle with words during tense situations might actually help him this time.

A pause and the look in her eyes softened. He breathed an internal sigh of relief. “If you’re busy I can go.” Earnestness tended to work best with women, and Calleigh seemed to be no different.

She smiled again, welcoming this time, and Eric gave himself a few points for his way with women, even if it did necessitate the sacrifice of a little of his dignity. Might not be worth it for anyone else, but Calleigh? Yeah. Definitely, yeah.

He was good at reading her and he knew she wasn’t going to question him on his motives any further—both very good things that were positive signs for his immediate future—but her smile was a bit forced and that was not a good thing. Not surprising after losing a friend and Eric’s plan was either going to turn out to be a great idea or a terrible one.

“What’d you bring me?” she asked, keeping things light, smoothing over what she knew he knew and nodding to the bags in distraction.

Those keen observational skills and their close friendship made him just as much an open book to her, a fact that was starting to bother him more than a little, what with the direction his thoughts had been straying recently.

“I brought ice cream and movies.” It was all incredibly girly, he knew, but he’d figured Calleigh wasn’t going to want company tonight and Eric wasn’t above playing dirty. What woman could resist ice cream and movies? It was like some sort of super-secret female bonding ritual, though it really wasn’t so secret considering even _he_ knew about it and yes, it was generally something women did together. But he was ignoring that for now.

Seeing that tight smile again he considered the fact that Calleigh wasn’t a typical woman, that he might have miscalculated, so he went for broke and held up his other hand, staving off the polite—always polite—rejection he could _see_ coming. “And spoons. You’ve got to give me credit for the spoons,” he said, raising eyebrows in a way he knew women considered adorable and looking at her expectantly.

“Well, if you went to all the trouble of bringing spoons then I suppose we can’t waste any perfectly good ice cream.” And with that, she opened the door wider, beckoning him in.

Eric tried not to let the flicker of triumph show on his face. It was difficult; he was pretty damn proud of himself. He could teach _classes_ in this stuff. And there was probably even a lot of money to be made there, a depressing thought if he ever had one. Of course, Eric was damn good at getting in the door—everybody knew that—it was what he did once he got there that caused all the trouble in his life.

Calleigh closed the door softly and headed for the small kitchen. The fact that she didn’t even check to make sure he was with her was somehow comforting. Like they were close enough she’d just assume he was, a fact that didn’t have to be verified. Just that much better to realize she was right. This wasn’t his first time in her apartment and they were good enough friends that he didn’t feel awkward here. He’d come here looking for some kind of absolution often enough. 

Hadn’t found what he was looking for, but that didn’t seem to matter. There was something comforting about Calleigh and her apartment by association.

He mutely followed, letting his eyes wander over the familiar décor. She really did have a nice apartment. It was feminine but not overly so, decorated in all the creams and beiges she seemed to favor, nothing like his dark and somehow depressing apartment—a place he only went to sleep these days. But he might just be associating all the wince-worthy scenes that happened there with the physical space. It wouldn’t surprise him.

Either way he liked Calleigh’s apartment better and he was quite happy to be here rather than there after a day like today.

He set the bag of ice cream down on the kitchen table, still clutching the plastic spoons like the life savers they were and he had somebody to thank for the last minute inspiration that had made him stop at a fast food place down the street.

Calleigh materialized two metal spoons, setting them on the table and taking out the pints of ice cream like if she didn’t get them out of their bags _right this second_ they were going to up and run away, and such a shame to waste ice cream. 

Did Eric know women or what? Though he probably shouldn’t be so self-congratulatory. Karmic retribution and all that. It was still quite possible for Calleigh to seize his ice cream and kick him out like the big office space bully she was.

He eyed the metal spoons dubiously. “What, I went to all the trouble of getting spoons and we’re not going to use them?” he asked, teasing smile letting her know he wasn’t serious.

“You can’t eat ice cream with plastic spoons,” she said, smiling at him fondly.

He frowned. “They’re perfectly functional,” he said, holding them up for emphasis, belatedly realizing it might look a little pathetic to be clutching plastic spoons in this situation. Not that that was anything unusual when he was around Calleigh.

She smiled again, and even if this was a surreal conversation, it was worth it to see her smiling again. “There’s nothing functionally wrong with the spoons, Eric. It’s the principle of the thing,” she said resolutely.

“I’m just going to assume that to the female mind that made sense because I’m a little scared right now and so I’m going to move on.”

She gave him a dirty look and turned back to the ice cream, checking out the labels to see what he’d gotten her. “Chubby Hubby, excellent choice. New York Super Fudge Chunk, a classic. Karamel Sutra?” she asked, voice lilting up adorably in surprise.

He grinned and looked away. “I, uh, I liked the name.”

“I’ll bet,” she said knowingly. She grabbed the spoons and two of the cartons, carrying them towards the living room and entertainment center. “You bring that one and the movies,” she said, not even looking back at him on her march to the other room.

And, God, he loved how she didn’t feel like she had to stand on ceremony with him, ordering him around like it was a perfectly acceptable way to treat a guest in her home.

He shook his head, grinning and gathering them up, trailing after her. She stopped in the doorway, abrupt and unexpected, turning in a sudden and very distracting swirl of long, blond hair, eyeing the bag of movies suspiciously. “What movies did you get?” she asked, deceptively calm, eyebrow raised dangerously nonetheless.

“No chick flicks, I promise.”

That seemed to relax her and she nodded approvingly, turning back around, starting towards the living room again. “So, what’d you bring?” Tossed over her shoulder like she didn’t really care. He knew her better.

“What, don’t you trust me?”

“What’d you bring?”

“One-track mind,” he said, shaking his head and skirting the sofa, heading directly for the TV.

The cool silence from her general direction meant Bad Things and he glanced back in time for her quelling look, pointed and direct.

“ _The Matrix_ and _The Usual Suspects_ ,” he said immediately. He walked a fine line with their teasing—friendly banter, though it was—and he was firmly invested in not crossing it or falling off it or whatever else you did to fine lines when something bad happened. 

She set everything down on the coffee table, looking up at him with a small smile. “You brought me Ben and Jerry’s and shoot ‘em up movies?”

He shrugged, turning back to the TV, busying himself with putting _The Matrix on_.

“Eric.” He looked back at her again, this time more cautiously. “Thank you.” Her solemn smile and the warmth in her eyes told him she meant it and he smiled easily at her, grabbing the remote and curling up on what he’d come to think of as his side of the couch.

She stole it back from him playfully, starting the movie and setting the remote by her side. She then picked up the Chubby Hubby and wasted no time digging in, snuggling down into the couch in that way she had, the way he had no words for other than adorable and that was probably why he tried not to describe Calleigh too often in his head. It led to bad, scary places with lots of soft fuzzy things and he didn’t want to _totally_ turn into a woman.

He resisted the urge to look over at her again, instead staring intently at the screen as the opening credits rolled.

***

After the third repetition of the scene in the lobby, Eric had just about had enough.

“That’s it. I am now confiscating the remote,” he announced, leaning over to the left and reaching for the remote by Calleigh’s side.

“No, no, no,” she said, grabbing the remote with one hand and holding Eric back with the other. “Just one more time. I promise,” she said, refusing to relinquish her hold even though Eric had both strength and size on her.

“You’ve seen this movie about a thousand times,” he said incredulously, trying to ignore the way she was laughing and squirming against him. 

“So you won’t begrudge me one more.” She was laughing and trying to catch her breath and _still_ trying to hold him back.

Eric grinned and then gave in and laughed too, leaning heavily against the back of the couch and looking down at Calleigh, stretched out on the couch, still grasping at the remote like it was all she wanted for Christmas and gasping in air in a way that took Eric to a completely different place—and tangled up in Calleigh was not the time for Eric to go _there_.

And to an outside observer this scene would look quite different—Calleigh beneath him on the couch, him hovering over her, pressed against one another from the waist down. 

Eric stopped that thought before it could really get going and take them both somewhere unbearably embarrassing. 

Calleigh picked up on something, possibly the awkwardness that was actively _trying_ to interrupt them, hopefully not what he was really thinking, and her smile faded. She looked back at him, something heavy flashing in her eyes before she covered it with a friendly smile. He knew her, though, and after all this time she couldn’t hide things like that from him.

But Eric wasn’t about to push it because that was pretty much the fastest way to get her to clam up and that wasn’t part of The Plan for the night. Not that he had a coherent plan, per se, more like a general outline. Even so he was pretty sure the outline didn’t include taking Calleigh and him anywhere near any talking about what was going on between them, so he let it go.

“Okay,” he said, quirking a grin and moving away, trying to get out of her personal space without making it seem like it was because he didn’t want to be there. That was a laughable thought. “You win. One more time.” She started to smile triumphantly, but he quickly cut off any victory celebration. “But. I reserve the right to reopen this discussion at a later date.”

“Duly noted,” she said, obviously mocking him and enjoying it immensely. She sat up and smugly rewound the movie. Apparently it had been playing the entire time. Huh.

“Bully,” he muttered, refusing to look at her and settling back into his side of the couch.

He didn’t even react when a throw pillow hit the side of his head with not-so-surprisingly impressive accuracy.

***

As the truth about Verbal was revealed, Eric glanced over at Calleigh, intent on cracking some joke and abruptly stilled. She’d fallen asleep, despite her prided night-owl status and that told him all he needed to know about the toll this day had taken. She was currently snuggled up against two pillows with a blanket half thrown over her lap and she looked so relaxed, in a way even he rarely got to see. He was loathe to disturb her and besides, when did he ever get to just watch her all he wanted without any possible recriminations?

He knew he had a bit of a crush and he knew it was beginning to show. Calleigh had definitely noticed it and thankfully hadn’t said anything. But he couldn’t quite figure out what to do about it. On the one hand he and Calleigh already had a good thing-- they were close friends, they hung out together, they talked. He probably knew her better than anyone else on the team, except maybe Horatio. But Horatio was more of a parent figure to them all and he tended to keep his distance. No, he and Calleigh were the most friendly, even if he did go out clubbing with Speed on occasion.

But those nights with Speed, there was always something missing on the part of the other man, and Eric couldn’t puzzle it out. There was some kind of heaviness around Speed when they were out and he never really got into it, preferring to stay on the sidelines and watch. He’d even been getting more distant at work and Eric didn’t really know what to do about that either, mainly because he had no idea what was going on with Speed.

So he didn’t want to mess up the best friendship he’d ever had with a woman by getting his hormones into the mix. Unfortunately, that was where the difficulties came in because he couldn’t seem to help himself.

Just like he couldn’t seem to keep himself from leaning over and brushing a stray piece of hair out of Calleigh’s eyes, letting careful hands linger against her skin, stroking softly. 

That was all it took for Calleigh to snap to wakefulness, the presence of another making her instantly alert. 

Eric didn’t even bother to hide what he’d been doing, resting his arm above the couch, fingers now against the muted silver blur that was her hair in the dim light. “Hey,” he said softly, smiling gently. “You must’ve fallen asleep.”

Thank you, Eric for stating the obvious, but it was something to say and it covered the awkwardness of this situation well enough, so he figured it wasn’t a total loss. 

“Yeah,” she said, sitting up a little and bringing a hand up to her forehead in a gesture he recognized as annoyance. Calleigh was an intensely private person and rarely liked to let her guard down. “Sorry. I must have been more tired than I thought.”

He smiled again and brought his hand to her face, running a thumb over her cheekbone and smiling again. “I should go,” he said softly, the darkness of the room somehow making him feel like he couldn’t raise his voice.

She stared at him, frozen in place. “Yeah,” she said again and Eric would bet money she had no idea what she was agreeing to.

He smiled and stood up, putting the movies back in their cases and gathering up the things he needed to take with him. He picked up the empty Karamel Sutra pint and grinned, shaking it at her, laughing as she rolled her eyes.

“It looks like the Karamel Sutra was a big hit,” Eric said teasing. “Maybe next time I’ll get to try some.”

“Only if you bring the plastic spoons,” Calleigh said deadpan and Eric laughed.

“I’m going to be hearing about that for a while, aren’t I?”

“That would be a safe bet, yeah,” she answered easily, smiling softly and impossibly looking even more beautiful after having slept curled up on a couch for two hours.

“You should wear your hair down more,” he said suddenly, surprising both Calleigh and himself. Maybe they were both tired because he was pretty sure he hadn’t meant to say that. But it was late and he couldn’t seem to remember the damn Plan—outline, whatever—and he was beyond caring.

“I mean—it looks good on you,” he said, trying to cover, knowing he was just digging himself in deeper. “Um, I should go.”

Calleigh stood and walked him out, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders and leaning against the open door. She laid a hand on his forearm, effectively stopping him from shuffling out awkwardly with no more than muted goodbyes.

“Eric, thank you,” she said seriously, looking up at him and squeezing his arm briefly. “I appreciate the gesture.”

He covered her hand with his own, squeezing back. “Hey, you know me, I’m always up for shoot ‘em up movies and ice cream.” He paused and smiled teasingly. “But I think I’m already starting to regret that pint of Chubby Hubby I ate.”

She dropped her hand suddenly. “You ate all my Chubby Hubby?”

He grinned, raising his hands, mock apologetic. “I promise, next time, I won’t touch your Chubby Hubby.”

“I’m going to hold you to that,” Calleigh said pointedly.

“So little faith,” he quipped, smiling again. Silence stole over them, dense as the Miami air and far more uncomfortable. And it really was late, that _look_ flashing in Calleigh’s eyes again, telling him he should be getting home before he did anything monumentally stupid. And considering he was known for his stupidity that would have to be something really bad.

“I guess I’ll see you soon,” he said softly, looking at her for confirmation.

“Yes you will,” she said with an emphatic nod, all awkwardness gone and a friendly smile back in place.

“Okay. Bye.” And he knew he was stretching out the moment—and not very expertly at that—but he didn’t want to leave.

Calleigh seemed to realize this, thankfully taking things into her own hands. “Goodnight, Eric,” she said finally, straightening up and moving to close the door, knocking him out of his stupor and giving him back motor control.

Walking out towards his parked car he couldn’t help but think that whatever happened, whatever happened it would be amazing just because they were so _good_ together. And all those decisions, all those decisions could wait. Because tonight he’d gotten to spend quality time with a close friend and after the hellish case they’d had, and the danger Calleigh’d been in, he was grateful just for that.

Just for that.

***

Fin. Feedback is adored.


End file.
